B io ph ile Issu e 18 - Biophile Magazine

Economics and a reliance onscience and technology tosolve our problems has led to anunsustainable situation wherecontinued growth in consumptionis required for governments andbusiness to be considered successful.This is a form of insanity. Economicsis at the heart of our destructiveways and our faith in it has blindedus.Dr David Suzuki, Canadian scientist,Environmentalist/BroadcasterEconomists are behaviouralpsychologists, but they thinkmore is better; they want to makeeveryone richer. They should pause.More's not necessarily better.David Hemenway, Professor ofHealth Policy, Harvard School ofPublic HealthThe closer we get to a virtuouscircle, in which our work, ourhome life, our ethics and ourspirituality are mutually reinforcing,the closer we will be to achievinggenuine sustainability.James Wilsdon, Senior Researcher,Forum for the FutureNo man manages his affairs aswell as a tree does.George Bernard Shaw, Playwrightmodern naturalist, then, isA no longer someone who goesno further than a stamp collector,mastering nomenclature and fieldmarks. She or he knows a localflora and fauna as pieces of aninscrutable mystery, increasinglydeep, a unity of organisms.Western culture has been tryingto elevate itself above since at leastMesopotamian times. The modernnaturalist, in fact, has now becomea kind of emissary in this, workingto reestablish good relations withall the biological componentshumanity has excluded from itsmoral universe….How is a naturalisttoday supposed to imagine the placebetweennature and culture? How is heor she to act, believing as manydo that Western civilization iscompromising its own biology byinvesting so heavily in materialprogress? And knowing that manyin positions of corporate andpolitical power regard nature asinconvenient, an inefficiency in theirplans for a smoothly running future?The Naturalist, OrionOnline, Fall2001, Barry LopezThe era of procrastination...is coming to a close...we areentering a period of consequences.Winston Churchill warning aboutthe danger of appeasement - andhighlighted by Al Gore, 45th vicepresident of the United States in2006, in the context of climatechangeUnless we change direction, weare likely to end up where weare going.Chinese proverbThe future of life on earthdepends on our ability totake action.ManyEarth StewardshipSome Thoughts to Pondercompiled by Anthony Mitchell43